We will start building from that”

Social capital, social networks and African migrants’ job‐seeking experiences in Australia

Bibliographic Data

ID11228596
AuthorsLouise Olliff (0000-0003-4787-0540, University of South Australia Adelaide SA Australia), Melanie Baak (0000-0002-0745-1352, UniSA Education Futures University of South Australia Adelaide SA Australia, corresponding author), Michelle Baddeley (0000-0001-7884-0374, UTS Business University of Technology Sydney Sydney NSW Australia), James Lino Lejukole (University of South Australia Adelaide SA Australia), James Lejukole (0000-0003-1449-4657, University of South Australia), Everine Munyonge (University of South Australia Adelaide SA Australia), Ibrahim Saidi (0000-0002-4292-7141, University of South Australia Adelaide SA Australia), Gerrit J M Treuren (0000-0002-6184-312X, University of South Australia Adelaide SA Australia)
Year2022
Volume57
Issue3
Pages725-742
Publication date2022-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Journal of Social Issues (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0157-6321 • E-ISSN: 1839-4655
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajs4.205
OpenAlexW4211153361
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited47

This article explores the job‐seeking experiences of Black African migrants in South Australia, focussing on the role played by social networks in labour market integration. While it has been long held that “who you know” matters when finding work, the quality and nature of interpersonal connections that can be put to use for job‐seeking purposes suggests that not all networks effectively leverage social capital when it comes to employment. This article argues that Africa‐born migrants in South Australia are a small, diverse population whose experiences of labour market integration are mediated by both reception (how they are received and perceived) and strategy and choice (decisions made by migrants themselves). There is evidence of these migrants’ evolving and expanding social networks; however, the strategy of building the “right” social networks only goes part‐way to addressing employment gaps, while racialised social hierarchies are embedded in the Australian labour market

Economics · Interpersonal communication · Labour economics · Leverage (statistics · Political science · Population · Project commissioning · Public relations · Publishing · Social capital · Social science · Sociology · Work (physics · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Engineering · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy

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